Prekallikrein activator and kallikrein in acetone- and kaolin-activated rat plasma.

Activation of plasminogen-free rat citrated plasma (RCPL-P) with acetone/kaolin yielded BAEe-esterase activities of 0.6--0.8 U/ml. Gel filtration demonstrated one single peak of BAEe-esterase activity (mol. wt. approximately 135000) with a kininogenase-esterase ratio (3.3) close to that known for human plasma kallikrein (2.7). Similarly activated rat citrated plasma (RCPL) revealed on gel filtration an additional esterase peak (mol. wt, approximately 47,000) with a low kininogenase-esterase ratio (0.3), and should accordingly not be used for a BAEe-esterase assay of rat plasma kallikrein. Acetone activation of RCPL-P and of RCPL yielded prekallikrein activator (PKA) activities which were about doubled by treatment with kaolin to 1.9--2.1 and 3.5--4.2 PKA-U/ml respectively. Gel filtration of acetone-activated RCPL-P or RCPL revealed two peaks of PKA activity, mol. wt. approximately 110,000 corresponding to activated factor XII (XIIa), and mol. wt. approximately 33,000 corresponding to XII fragments (XIIf). Kaolin-treatment of acetone-activated RCPL-P, but not of RCPL, caused an extensive fragmentation of XIIa to the 4--6 times more active XIIf. The lower yield of PKA-activity in acetone/kaolin-activated RCPL-P, as compared with activated RCPL, seems to be due to the absence of a factor of significance for the activation of factor XII, which is not plasmin, plasma kallikrein, or high molecular weight kininogen.